Oh, family.  We just got back from five days in Portland to visit my sister, her boyfriend and their two and a half year old boy, Gulliver.  It was lovely.  I took way too many pictures, but I’ve tried to contain myself here.  It’s hard though because let me just say: two babies are cuter than one!  Adeline adored her older cousin – she followed him around and wanted to be involved in whatever he was doing.  He would say “hi ah-dee” and give her delicate little hugs and kisses.  And then he’d get mad at her for tearing up his train-track and he’d scream and grab things away from her.  But hey, you can’t expect sunshine and kittens all the time, right?  Speaking of kittens, they have the tiniest, cutest little kitten.  He doesn’t have a name yet, although Coach Rheagar Sexington was thrown around.

We went pumpkin picking (I know, our third time this season!) and carved the pumpkins.  The pumpkin patch was on an island just outside of Portland.  It was close to the city but felt like the middle of the country.  Which is just how a pumpkin patch should feel.

Gulliver likes to get naked.  Like, all the time.  So he carved pumpkins naked.  That’s cool.  It was amazing to see how helpful he was – he pulled out the pumpkin seeds and put them in the bowl.  Addie, meanwhile, just threw innards on the ground and tried to eat pumpkin seeds.  I can’t believe that Addie will change and grow so much in less than two years.  I’m excited to see the little girl she’ll become, but I’m also pretty in love with the way she is at this age.  Can’t I make time stop right now??

I made my pumpkin into an elephant and it actually turned out halfway decent, despite my complete lack of craftiness.  Go me!  Carrie’s pumpkin is the amazing chicken.  She actually is crafty.  Jealous.

Carrie drinks raw milk which she gets from a small farm on Mt. Hood.  We went with her to check it out and it was really beautiful.  Adeline slept the entire way up there and back, which was also beautiful.  Seriously, beautiful.

Carrie also gets vegetables from a local farmer, which he brought to her door one day in a burlap sack.  So hip!  She’s an excellent chef, so we ate really well the whole time we were there.  She’s crafty, she cooks – she’s making me feel like a really inadequate stay-at-home mom.

It’s Portland in the fall, so it was pretty cold and rainy.  But we still spent a lot of time outside.  Everyone likes to be outside.  And besides, it’s fall, that’s what it’s supposed to be like!

Are those two just so adorable together or what?  Watching them interact really made me want another baby.  I’ve already been thinking about it, and this trip made me feel even more that one just isn’t enough.  I thought the age difference between Gulliver and Adeline was adorable, but it’s already too late for that (he’s about 1.5 years older than her).  But it does make me think, again, that I don’t want to wait too much longer.  In the meantime, though, I’ll enjoy my beautiful little girl.  I mean, just look at her, she’s perfect!

What a lovely trip!

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